e
able to rob me of good fortune, but of fortitude and courage they can
not."

Sancho paid the crowns, the carter put to, the keeper kissed Don
Quixote's hands for the bounty bestowed upon him, and promised to give
an account of the valiant exploit to the King himself, as soon as he saw
him at court.

"Then," said Don Quixote, "if his Majesty should happen to ask who
performed it, you must say The Knight of the Lions; for it is my desire
that into this the name I have hitherto borne of Knight of the Rueful
Countenance be from this time forward changed, altered, transformed, and
turned."

THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENCHANTED BARK

Upon proceeding with their journey, they discovered a small boat,
without oars or any other gear, that lay at the water's edge tied to the
stem of a tree growing on the bank. Don Quixote looked all around, and
seeing nobody, at once, without more ado, dismounted from Rocinante and
bade Sancho get down from Dapple and tie both beasts securely to the
trunk of a poplar or willow that stood there. Sancho asked him the
reason of this sudden dismounting and tying. Don Quixote made answer,
"Thou must know, Sancho, that this bark here is plainly, and without the
possibility of any alternative, calling and inviting me to enter it, and
in it go to give aid to some knight or other person of distinction in
need of it, who is no doubt in some sore strait; for this is the way of
the books of chivalry and of the enchanters who figure and speak in
them. When a knight is involved in some difficulty from which he cannot
be delivered save by the hand of another knight, though they may be at a
distance of two or three thousand leagues or more one from the other,
they either take him up on a cloud, or they provide a bark for him to
get into, and in less than the twinkling of an eye they carry him where
they will and where his help is required; and so, Sancho, this bark is
placed here for the same purpose; this is as true as that it is now day,
and ere this one passes tie Dapple and Rocinante together, and then in
God's hand be it to guide us; for I would not hold back from embarking,
though bare-footed friars were to beg me."

"As that's the case," said Sancho, "and your worship chooses to give in
to these--I don't know if I may call them absurdities--at every turn,
there's nothing for it but to obey and bow the head, bearing in mind the
proverb, 'Do as thy master bids thee, and sit down to table with him;'
but